By Sheena Jones, an LPN who is in training to be an RN at Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Birthday Cake/by Eggybird, via Flickr
Is it really fair when we get the favoritism speech from our superiors when we supply residents who have no family or friends with hygiene supplies? When there are two roommates and one has family and friends who visit daily and bring her all that she could need or want and the other has nothing and no one? Am I wrong for getting a couple of supplies from the dollar store for her? We all know that the hygiene supplies in many facilities are watered down and cheap. Am I wrong for buying someone some socks when they have none? We can’t share supplies or clothing between patients, so do I let someone walk around with nothing? If these people were my family or friends I would want someone to make them comfortable. They can’t leave the facility to go shopping with family or friends, and many of them have lost most of their mental capacity and have no one to help them—but that does not mean that they should walk around less put together than someone with a family? Do we just let these residents go without?
